Meat grinder



NOV. 17, 1936. l L H. OSBORNE 2,061,005

MEAT GRINDER vFiled Dec. 3l, 1954 l Ily umm Q N INVENTOR K Jo/m H. Osborne,

ATTORNEY Patented Nov. 17, 1936 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE MEAT GRINDER John H. Osborne, Anderson, Ind. Application December 31, 1934, Serial No. 759,811

The object of my invention is to provide certain 6 Claims.

improvements in details of co-nstruction of a meat grinder wherein desired relation between the perforated cutter plate and the relatively movable knife may be determined and established independent of the main shell of the grinder.

The accompanying drawing illustrates my invention.

Fig. 1 is a vertical axial section of a meat grinder of the screw impeller type embodying one form of my invention;

form, of a common form of meat grinder and comprising hopper II and pressure chamber I2, the open mouth of which is provided withvexternal threads I3 adapted to receive ring nut I4 capable of retaining, between it and the open end of the pressure chamber I2, the perforated cutter plate I5 which is held against rotation by pin I8 carried by casing I0 and projecting into a peripheral notch Il in plate I5. Thus far the structure is common and wellknown. Rotatably mounted within casing I is a pressure screw I8 which subtends the discharge end of hopper II and projects into the vicinity of plate I5. Between the discharge end of screw I8 and the inner face of plate I is a cutter I9 comprising a series of radial cutter arms which contact the inner face of plate I5.

Heretofore it has been customary to establish desired contact between the inner face of the cutter plate I5 and the cutter arms of cutter I9 by forcing plate I5 into contact with the cutter by the nut MI, the thrust developed by this contacting being resisted by a thrust washer 28 interposed between the receiving end of screw I8 and an adjacent portion of casing I0.

In such an arrangement nut I0 must be set very tightly to position and the pressure developed by the screw through the meat upon the plate I5 tends to separate cutter I9 from the inner face of plate I5, and the development of this pressure often makes it necessary to further tighten nut I4. As a consequence, these ring nuts I4 are often broken and the total frictional resistance developed by the thrust bearing and the contacting of the cutter with the plate requires the exertion of a very considerable amount of torque to produce rotation of the pressure screw and The delivery end of screw I8 is provided with an axial bore 25 threaded at 26 to receive a sleeve 2 shouldered at 28 to permit rm seating in screw I8 and provided at its outer end with a polygonal portion 29 adapted to t in and cause rotation of cutter I9. Mounted ,5, in the bore of sleeve 2l is a spindle 30 having, at an intermediate point, a polygonal collar 3I lying within a correspondingly shaped central opening in plate I5. Mountedupon spindle 30 at the inner end of sleeve 2l is a thrust washer 32 which v1() is held axially in position in contact with the inner end of sleeve 2l by a nut 33 threaded upon the inner end of spindle 30 as indicated at 34. The outer end 30' of spindle 30 is threaded at 35 to receive a nut adapted at one end to contact 15 plate I5 and provided at its free end with a knurled head 3l by means of which it may be readily manipulated.

With this construction ring nut I4 does not need to be tightly positioned. Tightening of nut 20 36 against the outer face of plate I5 will serve to draw cutter I9 into contact with the inner face of plate I5 and the thrust developed by the pressure of meat against the inner face oi plate I5 through the meat, due to` the action of the 25 screw I8, will be taken by the thrust washer 32. As this thrust washer lies within the bore 25, where it is thoroughly protected from the meat Aby the tight joint established by collar 2B, adequate lubricant may be maintained, within bore 30 25, for the thrust washer 32, without possibility of contaminating the meat, and plate I5 floats between the outer end of casing II) and the ring nut I4. Rotation of spindle 30 is prevented by reason of the non-rotative connection, at 3|, be- 35 tween said spindle and plate I5, and the nonrotative association of plate I5 with casing IU at I5-I'I. The entire end thrust developed by screw I8 will thus be taken by the discharge end of casing Ill, through plate I5, so that washer 40 20 may either be eliminated or used merely for the purpose of protecting the spindle of screw I8 from the material delivered into hopper II.

Referring now to` the construction shown in Fig. 2.-Screw I8 is provided with a bore 25' 45 within which sleeve 2'." is splined, as indicated at S. Sleeve 2l', shouldered at 2l", is provided with a polygonal outer end 28 upon which the cutter I9 is mounted, as in the other form. Projected through the bore of sleeve 21 is spindle 30 50 provided with the polygonal intermediate portion 3|, and an outer threaded portion 30 to receive the nut 36. On the inner end of this spindle, as in the other form, there is the thrust washer 32 retained by nut 33.

In this form the thrust, toward the left, produced upon the screw I8 by the meat, must be taken by a thrust bearing as indicated at 20 in Fig. 1, and this thrust, owing to the splined connection S, has no effect upon the adjustment of cutter I9 relative to plate l5.

Referring to Fig. 3, pressure screw I8 is counterbored, at 25, as shown in Fig. 1. This counterbore is provided with threads 26 into which sleeve 21 is threaded and firmly seated. Sleeve 21 is provided at its outer end with a polygonal portion 29 to. receive the cutter I9. A perforated cutter plate I5 is axially perforated at I5, to receive, in either axial direction, one end `of a spindle 36D which is provided with an integral plate-engaging collar 30|. The spindle 300 is held in place in the plate I5 by nut 302 and the unthreaded end of this spindle is projected intor the bore of sleeve- 2l.

It will be noted that in this form the spindle 30D may be reversed in plate I5', so that either face of the plate may be readily presented to the cutter.

It will also be noted that, in all of the forms shown, the bearing for the delivery end of the screw I8 is within said screw, instead of being within the perforated cutter plate, as has heretofore been the custom. As a consequence of this construction it is possible to provide a much longer bearing for the delivery end of the pressure screw than has heretofore been possible and this bearing is protected from the meat so that, even though the bearing be considerably worn, there is no tendency for meat to crowd into the bearing where it is likely to be overlooked and become putrid.

In the form shown in Fig. 3, the pressure screw I8 must be provided with a thrust bearing like the thrust bearing 2Q in Fig. l, and the cutting relation between the cutter I9 and the plate I5 must be determined by the ring nut I4.

I claim as my invention:

l. In a meat grinder, the combination with the cutter plate and pressure screw, of a cutter interposed between said plate and screw and rotatable by the screw, a spindle nonrotatively assocated with the plate and projected into the pressure screw, means carried by said spindle, within the pressure screw, for preventing relative axial movement in one direction of the screw relative to the plate, but permitting relative rotative movement between the spindle and cutter, and means carried by the outer end of the spindle, for engaging the cutter plate adjustably in opposition to the cutter.

2. In a meat grinder, the combination with the cutter plate and pressure screw, of a thimble mounted in an axial bore of said screw for rotation with the screw, a cutter interposed between the screw and plate and rotatable with the screw, a spindle nonrotatably associated with the plate and projected through the thimble into the bore of the screw, means carried at the inner end of said spindle for axially engaging the thimble to hold the cutter against the plate, and means carried by the outer end of the spindle for engaging the cutter plate adjustably in opposition to the cutter.

y 3. In a meat grinder, the combination with the cutter plate and pressure screw, of a cutter interposed between said plate and screw and rotatable with the screw, a thimble splined within the screw and having an axial abutment for the cutter, a spindle nonrotatively associated with the plate and projected through said thimble, means carried by the spindle within the pressure screw for preventing axial movement of the spindle relative to the thimble in one direction and to hold the cutter against the plate, but permitting rotation of the thimble upon the spindle, and means carried by the outer end of the spindle for engaging the cutter plate adjustably in opposition to the cutter.

4. In a meat cutter, the combination with the main shell, pressure screw, perforated cutter plate, and cutter non-rotatively associated with the pressure screw, of a bearing formed axially within the delivery end of the pressure screw, and a spindle non-rotatively associated with the perforated cutter plate and projected inwardly into said bearing, the pressure screw being rotative thereon.

5. A meat cutter structure of the character specified in the immediately preceding claim wherein the spindle is provided, intermediate its length, with a plate engaging shoulder and the spindle is reversibly associated with the plate by a removable nut threaded upon the outer end of the spindle and engaging the outer face of the plate.

6. In a meat cutter, the combination with the main body and cutter plate non-rotatively engaging one end thereof, of a pressure screw rotatable within the main body, a cutter non-rotatively associated with the pressure screw between the pressure screw and the cutter plate, a thrust bearing interposed between the pressure screw and cutter plate to transfer the screwthrust to the plate, and means by Which the axial relation of cutter and cutter plate may be adjusted.

JOHN H. OSBORNE. 

